AN: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far and encouraged me to continue this story.
Chapter 2
Avox
Flora couldn't help but release a gasp at what lay before her the moment she stepped outside the Apartment of Goodbye's. District 12's residents all lined yet another taped off area that lead in a solid line forwards from the two apartments and met in the middle, before another path lead towards their awaiting inter-dimensional ship. But this path was not one of dust and dirt, like it had been for so many others, it was covered in thousands of yellow rose petals.
A small tear threatened to escape Flora's eye though she managed to blink it into submission before turning to her right to see Helia with the same surprised expression on his face. He turned to Flora and smiled a little before stepping down three steps and onto the golden path.
Flora followed, mirroring each of his steps with one of her own; she walked slowly, enjoying the sunlight against her skin, the smell of the petals laid before her, the air, crisp and fresh from the surrounding forest. The crowd was silent and their eyes told Flora the simple truth. That they were proud of her but a the same time sad. Flora might have saved the life of her sister but was more than likely sacrificing her own. When she saw Helia was already waiting for her at the crossroads she picked up the pace to his side, her hands shaking uncontrollably.
Helia did the one thing his instinct was telling him to do and he reached out, taking Flora's right hand into his left and interlocked their fingers. Together the two tributes walked to their awaiting ship though, just before they boarded, took one moment to turn and face the crowd.
Flora took a mental photograph of her home, wanting to freeze this moment so it could last forever, the sights, the smells, the people and their houses, the forests and mountains that surrounded them. She wanted to remember them all, to stay with them all. But it was too late to go back now and she certainly wasn't going to let Miele and her mother suffer because she did something rash like jump off the ship and into the ether.
No, instead she and Helia did the one thing that they could, to show everyone how grateful they were to them all, to show them all that although these games should have never existed, that they were going to do their best, they were going to make them proud regardless of what happened inside. They placed their interlocked hands high into the sky for a moment, each taking one final breath of air from their home before entering the ship and watching the door separate them from their world.
The moment they boarded the two stood together, looking through a vacant window at the people below as the ship slowly ascended into the sky. Then they saw something neither of them could believe. Every person in the audience below had another's hands interlocked with their own and held to the sky above them. It was their way of saying goodbye. This time Flora couldn't help the tears that fell from her eyes making Helia encircle his body close to his own.
"It'll be okay," he spoke softly into her ear.
Flora lifted herself from his embrace and looked into his eyes. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have broken down like that." She wiped the final tears from her eyes and turned to look away from him.
"It's okay, considering our current circumstance I don't blame you one little bit." Flora wasn't really sure how to take Helia's sudden kindness. She wasn't sure if it was part of his tactic in the games, to befriend her and then turn on her at the last minute. It had happened several times inside other games so what was his motive? Did he really want to be friends? Allies? Or was it all just for show.
When Flora turned around she saw Helia had his arms crossed as he observed their surroundings. The cabin they were in was quite large, inside the centre sat as table and three chairs, a series of screens were around the walls, all supported by holographic projectors around the room. There was more technology inside this one room than Flora had seen in a lifetime. There were a set of doors to the far end of the room, opposite the main entrance that Flora believed to be the control room, and another two doors to either side of their current location.
"So who do you think our mentor will be?" He asked, breaking their cacoon of silence.
"I have no idea," Flora replied, only recalling two mentors winning from District 12, one had moved to Magix and the other committed suicide. They won the games in the very first year it was held. "I wish someone would hurry up and tell us where we can get some sleep."
"Sleep can wait," a voice responded, making Flora lift her gaze to the door directly across from her and Helia stop his pacing and stand tall. She had a briefcase in one hand, clip board in another, her white hair stood in curls above her head and her glasses reflected her tired grey eyes. She wore a dark blue pin striped jacket and shirt with a white blouse and comfortable court shoes.
"I am Faragonda, your games mentor," she looked between the two for a moment, watching as they exchanged an uncertain glance. "Oh come now don't look so terrified! It's my job to make sure that you both have a good chance at surviving this - I'm not the one you need to worry about killing you." She stepped forwards, opening the briefcase on the table before them.
"Please take a seat." They did as we were told before she placed down her clipboard, removed papers from the bag and spread them out like a fan.
"These are your competition," she explained, using a wave of her hand to make the other tributes faces appear on the screens surrounding them. Flora shifted in her seat to look them all, Helia doing the same.
"Each one of them was chosen through the reaping bowls in their districts. Three of the twenty four volunteered to take another person's place," she paused, clicking her fingers and making the other twenty one tributes faces disappear and the three that remained collect together behind her. Helia shifted his position back to the three. "This is the first one." The photographs of Flora and another light blonde girl disappeared, making the male tributes face shift sideways and a video of the reaping started playing.
"His name is Prince Sky." She was obvious referring to the tall man with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes. "He was replaced by this tribute in District 1, his name is Brandon." A fact sheet appeared next to his face, where the video was playing before.
"All we know about him is that he's seventeen years old, from District 1 and is the prince's squire which means he will have some kind of military background or physical ability but that's just a hunch."
The screen changed and the blonde girl appeared again, the reaping video showing next to her image. "The second was that of a fifteen year old girl named Harmony. She was replaced by Galatea so that she could be in the arena with her brother Derrick, the other tribute from Rhythm."
"What do you have on her?" Helia asked.
"Galatea is a music fairy though she is not as powerful as those from Melody. Rhythm's more focused on classical elements of music not the overall use of it so she is limited by her music's form though she is an Enchantix level fairy and can pack a punch if she needs to," Faragonda flicked her wrist and her brothers image was all that remained. "Her brother is Derrick, fourteen years old which makes him the youngest tribute in the games this year. He doesn't have any magical abilities but being small and young makes him more agile and he is probably good at playing hide and seek."
"Of course the last tribute to volunteer was you, Flora, in place of Miele your sister. An admirable thing and I'm sure that the sponsors will be pleased to support the girl who volunteered to die in the place of her sister."
"She isn't going to die!" Helia snapped.
"We will never know," Faragonda replied simply. "You know what will happen inside the arena, don't you? Twenty three tributes die which means that either one or neither of you will return home to Linphea. Now, it's my job to make sure that you are as prepared as you can be when you enter so I'm sorry, Helia, if I am being blunt but these are the facts! Death is a reality inside the games and if you even think for a second that it isn't then you are only fooling yourself!"
Helia stopped arguing though Flora could see him suppressing his anger, his hands tightened under the table in frustration.
"Now the other few tributes that I have information on have come from the betting agencies, at the moment they have picked their favourites."
"Already," Flora sighed. "But the reaping's have only just taken place?"
"They don't like to waste their time," Faragonda explained, clicking her fingers as four faces shone before them. "They are Riven from District 4, Amentia from District 5, Rose from District 6 and Bishop from District 8."
"But they've never had a favourite nominated from 5 before," Helia noted. "Most of the time it's the Downlandians that end up killed the first day."
"True that is usually the norm but this year the tribute, Amentia, is an expert in hand to hand combat. Her weapon of choice is the spear and she knows how to use one. Never underestimate your opponents in the arena. Sometimes the weakest looking ones can be the strongest and the strongest the weakest. Nothing is what it seems." Flora released a yawn catching Faragonda's attention immediately. "Well that is all I have so far, more information will come out from each of the districts to attract sponsors later. The last thing I need to know before I let you get some rest is what your strengths are."
"I can't really do that much," Helia replied. "I've used a bow and arrow before in the past and can tie various knots with string but that's about it."
"What do you do back home Helia?"
"I work in the forests, climbing trees and co-ordinating the pickers away from danger."
"How quickly can you climb up a tree?" Faragonda asked, taking a pen from her clipboard and taking down some notes.
"It depends on how big the tree is but an average height, maybe, thirty second, a minute at most."
"So you are very agile," Faragonda smiled. "That's something that will work to your advantage. Okay what about you, Flora?" Her gaze turned to the quiet nature fairy who swallowed to try and wet her dry throat. "I...uh...know about different plants and medicines."
"That will come in handy, anything else?"
"I have my Winx, my power comes from nature."
"Perfect," Faragonda smiled. "Your Winx energy, if you use it correctly, will be the best chance that you have of winning in the arena. Helia will have to rely on his other skills and gaining weapons while you Flora can use your magic instead to attack." She noted down a few things on her paper. "What level of Winx are you?"
"Enchantix."
"Excellent!" She beamed. "That puts you in the same category as all of the other fairies."
"Great," Flora sighed, her body and mind both exhausted and begging for sleep, begging for a bed for her to lie upon and give her a release from the reality of her situation. Faragonda must have picked up on it because she put her pen away, closed her clipboard, collected her papers and clapped her hands, removing the images from around them an brightening the cabin with lights from above. "I know that you are both tired so we will get into more detail about your opponents tomorrow when information comes to hand. Tonight though I think it would be a good idea to get some sleep. If you wait here dinner will be brought to you. Flora, you're room is on the right, Helia's the left," she explained, pointing to each of the doors and making them respond with relative nods.
"Get some rest, tomorrow will be a big day." And with that she stood to her feet and left through the door before either of them could say 'thank you.'
"So what do you think?" Helia questioned, turning to Flora and resting his arm on the back of his chair. "Good or bad mentor?"
"Good," Flora replied. "Assuming that this other knowledge she has will arrive and help us out. It's interesting though," she mused. "About the others that volunteered, I wonder why they did it."
"Why did you?" Helia asked making Flora's eyes widen.
"Why do you think?" The chair fell to a mess on the floor with a mighty clang as Flora looked into Helia's eyes with a new found fury she never thought she could have.
"I just-"
"You just what! Huh? You thought that I'd let her walk straight into the arena without anyone to lean on for support - for her to die some bloody death?"
"I didn't mean that," Helia defended, standing to his own feet and moving to lift her chair back onto its legs. "Look I'm sorry but I've known others from our district to be chosen and no one stands up to take their place."
"That's because love has its limits," Flora sighed, sitting back down and rubbing her hands nervously. Helia took his own chair, turning it so that he was facing her. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "That's the second time I've bitten your head off and I don't even know you." Helia leaned forwards with a slight smile before taking her hands into his.
"It's okay, I'm sure my time will come. But you know they will ask you that question during the interviews? You won't be able to snap like that on national television. They might call you mad." Flora laughed slightly. "Well maybe being mad wouldn't be so bad; there have been quite a few crazies inside the others games before ours."
"I know," Helia agreed. "Let's just hope that you're the only one this time around." Flora released her hands before playfully punching him in the arm. "You better watch yourself."
"I will if you do, Flora." Suddenly the door that Faragonda disappeared into just moments before opened and two girls of about their age stepped inside, carrying tablecloths and trays in their hands. One of them set the cloth and cutlery while the other took their dishes and placed it in front of them. Flora noticed the incredible bright red hair that one of two had. It was long, went to the base of her spine and was well looked after. "I love your hair," Flora commented though received no response in return. They did however nod their head and offer a smile and pour their water.
Helia was too perplexed about why the two were not speaking when it occurred to him that maybe they couldn't. They had heard stories from District 12, about people called Avox's, who were spelled so that they would never utter a word again. From the similarities between the two Helia wondered if they were related. "Excuse me," he began, making the two turn to look them in the eyes. "Are you sisters?" Their heads nodded.
"What are your names?" Flora questioned though neither of them spoke again. Instead the older sister, one with brown hair to her shoulders and green eyes pointed to Helia's room, and then to her sister and to Flora's room. "You are going to look after us?" Helia asked and they nodded again. "You for me and you for Flora?" He pointed another nod. Before they could ask any other questions the two took their remaining trays and left, leaving the couple to a set meal that they had suddenly lost their appetite for.
"Why didn't they speak?" Flora asked.
"Avox's," Helia explained, before piercing a small carrot with his fork and cutting into it with the knife, forcing the orange vegetable into his mouth. "But, I thought they were only stories?"
"Looks like they are real," Helia replied, chewing and swallowing the carrot and then pointing to her food with his fork. "Go on, eat something, we need to look after ourselves remember; if we are going to do what we promised." Flora looked to the assortment of turkey breast and vegetables, corn, potato, carrots, gravy, peas and beans. They hadn't seen great food like this, such quality produce, for as long as she could remember.
"This is nice," he smiled, swallowing down a mouthful of peas and corn with a glass of ice cold water. Flora finally decided that if she was going to keep her promise to Miele, if she was going to try her best in the games, she needed to eat. Mouthful after mouthful she ate the food with Helia by her side until both plates were empty of every corn kernel.
"Flora..." Helia spoke, making the nature fairy swallow the remainder of water from her glass and return it to the table. "I know that this is going to sound weird, especially considering our situation...but...I was wondering...if we could, you know, be...friends?"
The word felt like a slap in the face. Flora had only met Helia three hours ago and he was already telling her that he wanted to be friends; they had hugged, held hands, and now this. He wanted to put a label on them already. "Why?" She questioned, knowing that if it came down to just the two of them, she was sure that she wouldn't be able to go through with it, killing Helia. She had planned to remain on a friendly basis but not to get too attached. It seemed like a good idea, to enter the arena as strangers, it would be easier to kill someone you hardly knew than someone that you had grown to feel something for. Whether it was love or friendship both of them could be deadly in the arena and Flora knew it too well.
"I guess...if this is how it's all going to end for me, I want to know that at least I'll have someone to talk to. You know what I mean?"
"I know," Flora sighed. The idea of spending the last few days of her life in solitude, thinking of ways to kill Helia was something she hadn't wanted to do. But her mother told her to do whatever it took for her to return home, but if that meant coming back a completely different person, someone who had lost her faith in mankind and the essence of friendship, was it worth coming home at all?
"Alright, you want to be friends? Then tell me something about yourself?"
"I...uh..." he couldn't think of anything. "I write poetry."
"What kind?"
"Love poetry and ballads mostly, it helps to take my mind off things." Flora smiled; 'I'm becoming allies with a softy at heart'. She supposed she was the same, she believed in true love; the kind of love that only two people can share between each other. Maybe they weren't all that different at all, but what changes would affect them both if that was the case. "What about you, any hobbies?"
"Picking flowers and going for walks into the forest," Flora explained. "I like to fly through the air too but since they put that protective shield over our sky it's too dangerous to try. You aren't sure where the air begins and where the shield ends."
"It's all just there to keep the animals outside... or at least that's what they tell us." He offered. "Well I think it's time we both got some sleep, we can talk about our competition tomorrow, maybe spot their weaknesses or who we should be most afraid of."
"Okay," Flora agreed, covering the widening of her mouth with her hand. Together they stood to their feet as Helia scratched his head slightly. "Well I'll see you in the morning then."
"See you in the morning."
Flora retreated into her room with Helia going to his own. As soon as the door closed Flora could feel the tears beginning to well again. Staggering forwards she saw a pair of fresh jean shorts and a V-neck T-shirt lay out on her bed. Deciding to keep them until tomorrow she looked in the cupboard and found a larger T shirt and decided to wear that with a pair of silk shorts. Stripping off her mother's dress from the reaping, she turned on the water in the shower and placed her hands against the tiles, and then they came.
The tears that she held while they walked through the crowd finally surfaced and ran down her face, the water patting her back like a hug from her mother. She resided to sitting on the floor of the bathtub, the water flowing over her hair and body. Flora closed her eyes and wished that she was sitting under a waterfall in the rainforest, the birds flying over head with such grace and beauty while the crickets chirped and chimed. But opening her eyes brought her back to reality. That she was journeying further and further away from home and she wasn't even half way there yet.
Once she was dry and dressed Flora lay on top of the bed, cradling a pillow against her chest as the lights turned off automatically, sensing her body weight on the mattress. There in the dark she finally closed her eyes and dreamt of home. Of Miele, running around the forest care free, of her mother, out in the garden tending to their plants and healing sick people when they needed it. Then all of it was taken away and nothing but darkness remained. Tears rolled from Flora's eyes and to the soft pillow below. Maybe her dreams would only be the place she would see them now. Maybe she would never see them again.
AN: Anyone want to have a guess at who the two nameless Avox girls are? Thanks for reading and please review!
Response to Anonymous Reviews:
FloraFan: Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review! I'm glad that you are enjoying reading this fic and hope you'll continue to tell me your thoughts as we go.